Elderly, high-risk people urged to get flu vaccine, healthy urged to wait

Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2001

RANDOLPH E. SCHMIDAssociated Press Writer

WASHINGTON {AP} There will be enough flu vaccine this year, but with deliveries running late, healthy people are being urged to postpone their shots so the elderly and people at high risk can be vaccinated first.

"We need to target the influenza vaccine that is available now, in October, to those at high risk of complications," Nancy Cox of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Cox told a news conference that about 79 million doses of flu vaccine are expected to be available this season, about 4 million more than last year.

She declined to predict the extent or severity of this year's flu season.

But only three companies are making the vaccine this year, instead of four, and supplies are running late, she said.

David A. Neumann, director of the National Coalition for Adult Immunization, said that the flu kills as many as 20,000 Americans in a typical year.

"Such loss of life is preventable," he said, but "too often people do not get the vaccinations they need to protect themselves."

With about 45 million doses of flu vaccine now available and an additional 34 million expected to be delivered in coming months, the speakers urged that healthy people wait to get their shots in November and December.

It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become fully effective and in recent years the incidence of the flu has peaked in January through March.

Those who should receive their shots first, officials said, are people aged 65 and older and other at-risk groups, including:

Residents of nursing homes and other facilities housing people with chronic illnesses.

Children and adults with chronic heart or lung disorders, such as asthma.

Children and adults who need regular medical care because of such chronic diseases as diabetes, kidney disease and immune suppression.

People aged six months to 18 years who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy.

Pregnant women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during flu season.

Health care workers.

Dr. Pierce Gardner of the National Institutes of Health also called for increased efforts to get the elderly vaccinated against pneumococcal disease.

People aged 65 and over should receive this vaccine, he said, as should those aged 50 and up if they have other risk factors.

Pneumococcal disease comes in three forms, the most serious being a potentially deadly blood infection. It can also cause pneumonia or sinus and ear infections in children.

The vaccine is most effective against the blood infection, Gardner said.

Dr. Bonnie M. Word of the National Medical Association said that blacks and Hispanics tend to have lower rates of vaccination than whites. She said her organization is trying to raise the rate of vaccinations through public education efforts.